After seven years as a valuable leader in the MVP community, Community Engagement Director Nestor Portillo is moving on to a new role at Microsoft. Nestor’s passion for and expertise in community and social media will be put to good use as he takes on a new global leadership role within Microsoft’s support organization, where he will focus on delivering great value to Microsoft customers in community forums, micro-blogs and other next-generation social channels.
“Nestor leaves a strong seven-year legacy in our organization, having played a critical role in shaping the Most Valuable Professional Award in recent years,” explained Toby Richards, General Manager of Microsoft’s Community and Online Support.
Starting as a community lead in Latin America, Nestor’s contributions to the community grew to leading the MVP Award in recent years. He helped to strengthen how Microsoft identifies, awards and engages with top community leaders, and he clocked tens of thousands of air miles in the process as he developed strong personal relationships with MVPs around the world.
Nestor wished to share his sincere gratitude for all Microsoft’s MVPs, past and present, and the MVP program’s staff with these words… “During my years working for the MVP award program I’ve had the privilege to contribute in its evolution to become the industry best practice; this has only been possible because its key components: the MVPs, our vibrant communities and the passion of the people running it are deeply committed to helping users. I cannot foresee anything less than success in the coming years because the passion involved.”
Continuing and growing upon Nestor’s great work will be Mike Hickman and Lourdes Orive. Mike and Lourdes share Nestor’s and the whole MVP program’s passion for our MVPs and each bring rich histories and experiences within the MVP and community spaces. Mike will manage all community engagement and Lourdes will drive the program and operations side of the MVP experience. Mike and Lourdes are not new to our MVPs, but will reach out to more of our MVPs in the coming months and look forward to connecting personally with many MVPs at the upcoming Global MVP Summit in late February and early March.
Please join us in expressing our great thanks to Nestor for his exceptional leadership and personal commitment to the MVP community over the years and welcome Mike Hickman and Lourdes Orive.